Category Archives: Access

Maximizing School Librarian Leadership: Building Connections for Learning and Advocacy will be published by ALA Editions in June, 2018. As a preview to the book, I am using one blog post a month to share a one-page summary of each of the nine chapters in the book.

“Digital literacy is the ability to use information and communication technologies to find, understand, evaluate, create, and communicate digital information, an ability that requires both cognitive and technical skills” (American Library Association 2013). As educators with expertise in curating and integrating digital resources and tools into curriculum, school librarians and libraries are perfectly positioned to be leaders and coteachers of digital literacy.

School librarians serve as technology stewards. Stewardship is an activity that requires one to practice responsible planning and management of the resources one is given, or over which one has authority. In school libraries that serve as hubs for resources, effective school librarians curate resources that support standards-based curricula as well as students’ needs for independent learning. Students, families, classroom teachers, and administrators rely on proactive library professionals who plan for, manage, and integrate digital learning tools and experiences into the daily school-based learning lives of students.

Access and equity are core principles of librarianship. With their global view of the learning community, school librarians have an essential role to play as digital literacy leaders who help address gaps in technology access. In schools with plenty, school librarians advocate for a digitally rich learning environment for students and coteach with colleagues to effectively integrate digital resources, devices, and tools. In less privileged schools, librarians will dedicate themselves to seeking funding and advocating for students’ and classroom teachers’ access to the digital resources and tools of our times.

What you will find in this chapter:
1. Strategies for Leading Digital Literacy;
2. Leading Digital Learning Organizations;
3. Future Ready Librarians Framework;
4. Selected Criteria and Possible Evidence for Future Ready Librarians.

The importance of digital literacy for students, particularly for students from less privileged homes, cannot be overestimated. Ensuring equitable access through professional development offerings and instructional partnerships, school librarians serve as digital integration mentors and coteachers alongside their colleagues. Future-ready librarians also ensure that students have the knowledge and tools they need to be safe, engaged, and effective digital learners, creators, and citizens. Digital literacy teaching and learning is a leadership opportunity for school librarians

Works Cited

American Association of School Librarians. 2018. National School Library Standards for Learners, School Librarians, and School Libraries. Chicago: American Association of School Librarians.

On Digital Learning Day (DLD), the Alliance for Excellent Education is sponsoring a free Webinar: Digital Learning Day 2017: “The Value of a Connected Classroom.” You can sign up on their site.

On the DLD homepage, there are four highlights listed from the 2016 event:
1. Digital Equity and Access
2. Digital Equity and Leadership
3. Digital Equity and College and Career
4. Digital Equity and Instructional Quality

School librarians especially appreciate the consistent focus on digital equity. School libraries are one place on school campuses where all students should be able to gain access to the digital tools and resources they need to be successful.

I include Arizona’s data because I was a long-time Arizona school librarian and school librarian educator; I currently live in this state.

In her article “Teacher-librarians as Champions of Digital Equity,” Dr. Carol Gordon makes a case for recognizing that “information education” is an essential aspect of digital equity. Citing two researchers’ list of the expertise school librarians offer students and colleagues, she notes: “Teacher-librarians play an important role in each of these areas: connectivity, content, content creation, technological support, and research on digital technology and learning. However, the role of teacher-librarians in information education, which should be at the top of this list, is not there” (Gordon 2016). (Emphasis added)

Digital Learning Day offers a snapshot of every day of the school year. This year, I will be looking for the ways Future Ready Librarians are forming instructional partnerships that ensure that students are effective users of ideas and information and proficient in knowledge creation as they appropriate digital tools and devices to meet their learning and presentation needs – all year long.